House of Cards: Deck of Bush
House of Cards: Deck of Bush playing cards presenting reasons not to re-elect President Bush for a second term, USA, 2003.
Produced by Nitestar Productions Inc. of Los Angeles, this pack is one of several offerings of the period presenting reasons not to re-elect President Bush for a second term (2005-2009). The spades suit shows “the real Bush” – his alliance with the extreme right and religious conservatives; the hearts describe “Bush’s gifts to the American public” – budget slashes; diamonds recount the corporate greed of the CEO president – cronyism and corruption; and clubs cover the lies and deceits surrounding the war with Iraq. Each card shows a photograph of George W. Bush, beneath which are quotations either from his own mouth or from the press or other media.
Above: ‘House of Cards: Deck of Bush’ political playing cards produced by Nitestar Productions Inc, USA, 2003.
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By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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